Gears of War 3: ‘Forces of Nature’ DLC Announced

It’s almost Spring, and that of course means that the Gears of War 3 Season Pass is coming to a close. But instead of being disappointed, Gearheads can rejoice in the latest details announced for the fourth and final batch of DLC, titled ‘Forces of Nature.’ The system of extra content is going out with a bang, bringing back old game types, re-imagined maps, and inclement weather to test player skill in all new ways.

Whether or not you have subscribed for access to all the Gears of War 3 content ahead of time, there’s a good chance that you own a copy if the sales numbers are any indication. Just in case the standard maps – and the subsequently released map packs – have already started to bore you, the new additions on the way may be bringing enough changes to entice you.

The details on the ‘Forces of Nature’ DLC come courtesy of Digital Spy, with Epic Games announcing the five weather-themed maps available for download beginning March 27, 2012. In addition to the maps, new weapon skins and character skins previously available as pre-order bonuses will also be included, along with the return of Gears of War 2 game mode ‘Guardian.’

Among the five maps – the same number previously released with the ‘Fenix Rising’ DLC – are newly redesigned maps taken from both previous games. ‘Raven Down’ from the first in the series, now sporting a new layer of snow, and a Lambent-infested version of Gears 2 map ‘Jacinto.’ We’re not exactly fans of returning old maps instead of designing brand new ones, but hopefully these changes will turn out to be more than cosmetic.

Have a look at the early screenshots of two of the maps:

What’s old may be new again, but truly new is even better. If you haven’t already noticed, the five maps are all designed around inclement weather that will pose new challenges for players, not to mention a chance for the developers to show what their Unreal Engine is capable of.

The three new maps are as follows: ‘Aftermath,’ a water-logged city park sporting a beached ship, ‘Artillery,’ a COG missile silo suffering the effects of an endless storm, and ‘Cove,’ a Stranded port with rolling fog to obscure the area. These opportunities for the team to show what kind of natural effects can be used to add to the multiplayer atmosphere are more than promising, and might just result in the most interesting maps yet.

Obviously there’s no limits to how much DLC Epic can release in the future – should the mood strike them – but hopefully the Season Pass will prove to be more than worth it to purchasers with this fourth installment. Even if the team decides to try their hand at more campaign DLC like the impressive ‘Raam’s Shadow‘ their seems to be enough players to make that worthwhile.

What do you think of the extreme weather conditions that Epic is bringing with ‘Forces of Nature’? Something you would like to see explored more, or would you rather they come up with five brand new maps built strictly around existing game modes? Whenever more details or trailers are released we’ll keep you up to date.

The Gears of War 3 ‘Forces of Nature’ DLC will be released on March 27, 2012 for 800 MS Points.